Sculpting tattered clothes, robes, cape

[Pancakeonions]

So the new Heroquest comes with some cool new character classes, including one, The Warlock, who can transform into a demon.  There's a perfect Reaper Mini for this (Werner Klocke's Virina female demon, SKU: 03084), and she's perfectly dressed to attempt a little bit of sculpting (i.e., naked!)

 

I wanted to try to sculpt tattered clothes onto the demon, to provide a visual cue to link her to the Warlock - who is in a dress.  I wasn't quite sure about how to do this - maybe start with thin paper (like a kleenex/tissue even) and soak in PVC glue, then drape it over the models body like a dress might fall, but one that's been torn to shreds in the transformation (the Warlock is also a halfling, so she's smaller than Virina).  I don't need a lot of clothes on the demon, I really like the model as it is, but I'd like a visual cue (i.e., same colored clothes) to link the two models.

How might you approach this?  I'm also new to sculpting.  I've used greenstuff before - maybe i should consider how to do this in greenstuff?

 

Any advice would be most welcome, thanks!

[SotF]

On 12/10/2021 at 1:38 PM, Pancakeonions said:

So the new Heroquest comes with some cool new character classes, including one, The Warlock, who can transform into a demon.  There's a perfect Reaper Mini for this (Werner Klocke's Virina female demon, SKU: 03084), and she's perfectly dressed to attempt a little bit of sculpting (i.e., naked!)

 

I wanted to try to sculpt tattered clothes onto the demon, to provide a visual cue to link her to the Warlock - who is in a dress.  I wasn't quite sure about how to do this - maybe start with thin paper (like a kleenex/tissue even) and soak in PVC glue, then drape it over the models body like a dress might fall, but one that's been torn to shreds in the transformation (the Warlock is also a halfling, so she's smaller than Virina).  I don't need a lot of clothes on the demon, I really like the model as it is, but I'd like a visual cue (i.e., same colored clothes) to link the two models.

How might you approach this?  I'm also new to sculpting.  I've used greenstuff before - maybe i should consider how to do this in greenstuff?

 

Any advice would be most welcome, thanks!

I've actually found that a better option for a lot of the tattered cloth is to use tissue paper. Not the kleenex type, but the type you find where they sell it for putting in gift bags and similar.

 

I'd actually used that with toothpicks and a couple beads with one of the wooden coin shapes from the craft store to make several shadow minis that would work for ghosts, wraiths, and several other things. Using the beads and toothpicks to make a humanoid frame and then tearing bits of the tissue paper and gluing it on to build up the tattered robes look with some slightly thinned white glue and mod podge. (It's been a bit, I'd started with one of them and ran out to switch for the other).

[Inarah]

For capes and cloaks use tinfoil as a base. 

 

[Mad Jack]

 

 Exactly which bits of the dress are you looking to put on? And are you using the metal or Bones version? (The Bones version comes with the wings glued on, and they're a bit difficult to pull off)

 

Going by this picture, if you're going for an "exploded" version of the warlock's dress then the top part should be easy - the bodice of the dress is laced up the front which, structurally, would be the weak point where it would tear, so you could just do the sleeves and a few strategically-placed tatters of the front of the dress over each breast. (If you want to get really accurate, the crossed ribbons on the upper chest would also have ripped and be hanging down as well.)

Since the bodice ends at the midriff on the original outfit, the exploded version would most likely cover only the tops of the breasts and shouldn't require any real backing or armature to sculpt on. The wings would have torn the back of the bodice completely apart, but since the hair and wings will block all view of it there's no real need to bother adding those details.

 

From the waist down, the floor-length skirt on the halfling would have ended up being knee-length on the demon. You could either go with a more cartoon/anime version with the sash somehow still intact but the only remaining piece of the skirt being a loincloth-looking thing in front and back, or have a more realistic version where the sash and the overskirts most likely would have fallen off when they split, and the dress itself would have split up one side. Either way, there shouldn't be anything that couldn't just be done by sticking some green on the figure and pushing it into the right shape. Whatever you do with the back part of it is going to be largely hidden by the wings.

 

If you're going to have any bits actually dangling off the figure, sculpt everything but the dangling bits first and let it cure, then roll out a really thin sheet of greenstuff on a piece of wax paper or cutting board lubricated with vaseline and use a hobby knife to cut out the shapes of the bits that will be hanging and add them on one by one. You'll want to wait until the greenstuff is beginning to get a little bit hard again before you cut and shape it so that it won't get deformed while cutting it and placing it on the figure. The key to making it look good is to blend the edges of the newly-added greenstuff onto the older stuff well. Always add fine details like trim as the last step.

 

Here's a list of Youtube videos that deal with the subject of adding clothing and things to minis...

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+make+cloaks+with+green+stuff

 

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Mad Jack

[Rigel]

One of my first experiences with GreenStuff was to make tattered clothes turning a Clay Golem into a freshly transformed Mister Hyde. 

@Mad Jack's assessment seems good: pop stuff open at at least one shoulder and one hip; back is just shredded by wings. Those poofy sleeves will be hanging halfway down Virina's biceps. A shred or two of cloth hanging off one of the horns would provide some visual interest and a bit of kinetic history. 

Put some tatters around the areas Virina is bigger than your Warlock, and join them together at less distorted parts or more sturdily sewn points is the key takeaway. 

[Pancakeonions]

I ended up using some tissue paper (thin paper you use to wrap stuff, or put into gift bags) soaked in watered down PVC glue.  It came out OK.  Thanks for all the tips